"American Top 40" for the week ending November 30, 1974--40 years ago this week.
Hello everyone. I was looking forward to hearing this particular AT40 program for several reasons, including the fact that it's from 40 years ago.
Also, it is from when I was in 11th grade, Junior year of High School, and life was good!
Plus, during the time period from summer 1974 until summer 1975, I had no local station that carried AT40! So this is a 'new' broadcast for me.
Finally, I really loved a lot of the songs from this mid-70s era.
So, here we go...
40) Bungle In the Jungle--Jethro Tull (debut)
A most interesting song from 'The Tull', who were huge on the LP charts at the time, even though this was only their second top 40 single. Neat arrangement and clever lyrics. Trivia fact: Jethro Tull was an actual historical figure in Olde England (16th/17th century, I believe). I'll bet everyone can name only one other "Jethro", and a TV character at that!
39) Whatever You Got, I Want--The Jackson Five (debut)
I truly forgotten single from the Motown years of the J5. I never even heard it played in my area at that time, but it's a pretty good song!
38) Boogie On Reggae Woman--Stevie Wonder (debut)
Six years before "Master Blaster", Stevie first dipped into reggae territory for this irresistible hit.
37) One Man Woman-One Woman Man--Paul Anka with Odia Coates (debut)
Following his huge comeback smash "Having My Baby", Anka does more of a true duet with Ms. Coates on this one. A good, solid pop tune.
36) Three Ring Circus--Blue Magic (36 previous week)
Second top 40 song for this Philly group is pretty good but sounds a bit too much like 'Sideshow, Part Two'. It would be their last Hot 100 appearance.
35) Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)--Reunion (16)
I still love this rapid-fire, name-dropping pop ditty by a studio group featuring ex-Ohio Express singer Joey Levine on vocals. Thematically similar to M's "Pop Music" from five years later. I remember playing the 45 repeatedly while trying to write down all of the pop and rock acts mentioned in the song!
34) Only You--Ringo Starr (debut)
Ringo repeats what worked a year earlier with "You're Sixteen": Remake a hit song from the 50s. Not bad, but I thought he was coasting somewhat since he had proven he could do a great job on contemporary material with "Photograph".
33) Jazzman--Carole King (19)
Great sax work by Tom Scott very nearly gave Carole her second #1 single as a singer. I thought it was a stronger song than several that did hit the 'revolving door' #1 spot that fall!
32) Willie and the Hand Jive--Eric Clapton (40)
Another remake of a 50s hit--the 50s revival was in full force in the mid-70s--features a relaxed, mellow groove from 'Slowhand'. A follow-up to his 'comeback' song, "I Shot the Sheriff".
31) Let's Straighten It Out--Latimore (39)
Wow! What a true 'forgotten gem'! Old-style southern soul with a heartfelt vocal. Another song that I had not heard in my area at the time. Took a healthy jump this week but would get no higher on the chart.
30) Must Have Got Lost--The J. Geils Band (38)
This gramatically-challenged bluesy rocker would become the Geils boys' first real single hit, although they'd scraped the lower reaches of the 40 twice before and were well-known as album artists. Good Peter Wolf vocal.
29) The Need To Be--Jim Weatherly (11)
A somewhat weak arrangement is all that mars this otherwise powerful tune by singer/songwriter Weatherly, who had already had hits recorded by Gladys Knight and the Pips, including one upcoming on this show. Another 'forgotten gem'.
28) Fire, Baby I'm On Fire--Andy Kim (35)
Another song that made a healthy move only to go no higher. This would be Kim's final Hot 100 appearance. I like this song: It has an interesting arrangement and does NOT sound like 'Rock Me Gently Part 2'
27) Ain't To Proud To Beg--The Rolling Stones (33)
And another remake, this time of a mid-60s song. The Stones do a decent job on this one, really rocking out on it. Although I guess if I accuse Ringo of 'coasting' I should do the same here!
26) Woman To Woman--Shirley Brown (37)
A big mover but it would not climb much higher--it will peak at #22. Ms. Brown tells the 'other woman' what's what on this slow jam, which would be one of the final hit songs on Stax Records.
25) Tin Man--America (4)
A huge drop from it's #4 peak, this song with America's typically obtuse lyrics was their biggest hit since "Horse With No Name". The LP this one is from, "Holiday", marked the beginning of George Martin's involvement with the group. Decent song, but what the heck do the lyrics mean?!
24) Laughter In the Rain--Neil Sedaka (32)
The song that started a big comeback for Sedaka both as artist and songwriter. A good pop song that I've yet to grow tired of. I would slowly climb to #1 two months later.
23) I Feel a Song--Gladys Knight and the Pips (29)
I really thought that this Jim Weatherly tune would keep Gladys' Buddah Records Top 10 streak going. They'd had four straight going back to "Midnight Train To Georgie". Unfortunately it would only peak at #21.
I really liked this song and Gladys and the group's performance (still do).
22) After the Goldrush--Prelude (24)
Another song I really liked and still do is this a capella rendition of Neil Young's 1970 LP title track. This would be it's peak position.
21) Whatever Gets You Through the Night--John Lennon (12)
Just two weeks out of #1, thanks to typically abrupt late 1974 chart moves, Lennon's first solo #1 is one I was kind of surprised reached that position. Not a bad song, just sounds like something Lennon could have whipped out in five minutes! With uncredited backing vocals by Elton John.
20) Fairytale--The Pointer Sisters (26)
Probably today my absolute favorite of many great songs on this chart. I love how the Sisters pull off a straight-out country song without a hint of gimmickry or 'look at us, we're doing country!' smugness.
19) Touch Me--Fancy (25)
...and that is followed by my LEAST favorite song on this show. Did not like it then, nor now. If I want to hear a song called "Touch Me", I'll play....The Doors! No, not Samantha Fox...
18) Promised Land--Elvis Presley (23)
To my knowledge the only time Elvis covered Chuck Berry. Elvis had a bigger hit with it than Berry did ten years earlier (#41), and it's not bad!
17) You're the First, the Last, My Everything--Barry White (27)
A very typical Barry White hit. Long title and everything! Barry could certainly make this kind of sensual love ballad work.
16) You Got the Love--Rufus (20)
I've always liked this follow-up far more than Rufus' first hit, "Tell Me Something Good". It's funky and rocking at the same time, with Chaka wailing away. Probably my favorite Rufus hit.
15) Junior's Farm--Paul McCartney and Wings (28)
Another song I've always loved, and thought was one of McCartney's best solo/Wings releases. I was hoping he'd perform it on his tour when I saw him in august, but no such luck. He did do many other unexpected songs, though, and the concert was amazing!
14) Back Home Again--John Denver (9)
This is actually quite a good song, Denver's undeserved goody-two-shoes reputation notwithstanding. I hear a hint of melancholy underneath the surface in it, which adds to it's appeal.
13) Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)--Al Green (17)
this would become Al's final top 10 hit as a solo artist. A nice, mellow, funky groove here.
12) I've Got the Music In Me--The Kiki Dee Band (13)
A good rocking tune from Elton John's future duet partner and labelmate.
11) Wishing You Were Here--Chicago (15)
Speaking of songs awash in melancholy, I was also surprised that this great Chicago single could not quite make the top 10!
10) Angie Baby--Helen Reddy (14)
Whoa! The lyrical content in this future #1 hit (on what would become the 'dead week' two years later) written by Alan "Undercover Angel" O'Day is downright creepy. Don't mess with Angie!
9) Cat's In the Cradle--Harry Chapin (10)
OK, I'll be nice since I've already read on these boards of several posters' love for this song. Don't get me wrong, it's heartfelt and not bad by any metric. It's just that it pretty predictable. I'm pretty sure that the first time I ever heard it I thought "I'll bet the son will turn out to be just like the Dad in the final verse." I saw Harry Chapin in concert and he was great and I've always loved "Taxi". I just think he wrote some songs that were better than this one that turned out to be his 'legacy' song.
8) You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet--Bachman-Turner Overdrive (34)
OK, here we go with the most suspicious of all of the weird late 1974 chart moves on the Hot 100! I know that Casey stated on the show (probably because so many listeners were going "huh"?) that B-side airplay was the reason for this former #1 song's unlikely leap back into the top 10, but I still don't buy it. Several months later a similar thing happened as stations started to flip "Junior's Farm" over to play "Sally G", and while this caused the record to arrest it's drop down the chart and even to come back up a bit for a short while, it was nowhere near as extreme as this. I think someone just mad a mistake!
7) My Melody of Love--Bobby Vinton (3)
I'll admit: This is a pure guilty pleasure of mine, and I'm not Polish! I can't help but love it, as polka-rhythmed cheesy as it is.
6) Everlasting Love--Carl Carlton (6)
One of the early 'protodisco' tunes, Carlton's remake of Robert Knight's 1967 #13 hit still makes you want to get out on the floor!
5) Longfellow Serenade--Neil Diamond (5)
A good upbeat pop tune from a master of the genre.
4) Do It ('Till You're Satisfied)--B.T. Express (2)
A good funk/early disco groove.
3) When Will I See You Again--The Three Degrees (8)
A slice of Philly soul that I was sure--positive even--was headed for #1. I remember I was shocked when I saw some back issues of "Billboard" in early 1975 (remember, I had no AT40 station at the time) and saw that it had been shut out of the top spot by "Cat's In the Cradle" and "Angie Baby". They was robbed!
2) Kung Fu Fighting--Carl Douglas (7)
Yes, it's a gimmicky song riding on a trend, but it somehow works! Deserving of it's #1 pop dong status in my book.
1) I Can Help--Billy Swan (1)
On the other hand, I was amazed when perusing those "Billboard" issues mentioned two songs back to see that this pleasant but ordinary tune had spent not one but two weeks at the top, at a time when song after song was 'number one and done', often even falling right out of the top 10 the following week. Chalk it up to the chart strangeness of late 1974, I guess.
Hope you've enjoyed my musings...